


SkyStar Week 2020 Hell Yeah

by testedcyberneticz



Category: The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One, Transformers: Shattered Glass
Genre: A lil late but yknow, Accidental Therapy, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Flashbacks, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Panic Attacks, Relationship Talk, Unsafe and gay lab work, how tf do i tag this, skyfire voice god i lovr gremlin men. God bles, what happens if you put 5 gay chaotic scientists in a lab
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:55:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26223727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/testedcyberneticz/pseuds/testedcyberneticz
Summary: Day 1: Hope/GriefDay 2: Regrets/MemoriesDay 3: Loneliness/GentlenessDay 4: Intimacy/VulnerablityDay 5: Au of Your Choice (Shattered glass, though my own interpretation of it)Day 6: Betrayal/RedemptionDay 7: Free Prompt
Relationships: Skyfire/Starscream (Transformers)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 53
Collections: SkyStar Week 2020





	1. Hope/Grief

Skyfire was good at accepting situations. Sometimes, things didn't go the way it should, and you just had to deal with it. However, that shouldn't exactly have to apply to the fact Starscream was a Decepticon and he was an Autobot. In fact, it was frustrating and depressing. 

But even so, he just had to deal with it. What was he going to do, run out in the open and beg for Starscream to stop acting stupid and maybe kiss him while he was at it? Yeah, not exactly a good idea. He noticed, of course, the looks. Starscream's optics were rather open when it came to emotion. They were mixed but love was one of those emotions, and that was something, Primus be damned. It was still frustrating either way.

Luckily, the Autobots, despite everything as well, were pretty nice to him. He'd been expecting to be punished or something, but most actually understood the fact he had been comatose and didn't even really know what he was doing when he became a Decepticon. That said, some 'Bots didn't exactly have a grasp on the concept of privacy and were lucky he didn't horribly mind. 

"Rewind, this chair is too small for me, I'll just sit on the floor." He said nervously. Rewind flailed his arms while he was struggling to push a normal Cybertronian sized chair, which was much too big for the cassette. 

"No, no, no! You wait here!" The tiny Autobot ran out of the room before he could say anything, and came back with... Another chair. 

"Rewind, I can help." 

"Nope! You're being interviewed so I set everything up." 

"Rewind..." Skyfire began, but Rewind brought a finger to where his mouth would be if he had one. 

"This is how it- stupid chair- works!" The chair was slid next to the first one finally, and Rewind sat on the floor and vented out air in exhaustion as fans whirred. The minibot's determination to make this professional was admirable, at least. He picked up said minibot gently and put the minibot in his chair... Which didn't work. The table was too big and blocked most of Rewind's face. 

"Augh!" He threw his arms into the air, "Darn it!" 

"Rewind, I can go get-" He cut himself off when Rewind ran out of the room, only to come back with a human sized metal chair, to which he slammed it on top of the table. Skyfire desperately had to hold back laughing. 

"We're now in business." Rewind finally said as he sat down, "Sit down please so I can start the interview." 

That he did, though awkwardly, and was relieved that Rewind's odd chair plan had somehow worked. They weren't broken and he was happy with that, nothing embarrassing right away was a good start. 

"I'm ready." 

"Okay. So, about Starscream." Yes, that's what this was all about wasn't it. Unfortunately, Skyfire had never done something like this before. Meaning...

"I don't know where to start." He admitted. 

"How about how you guys first met?" 

"How we... Ah. _Oh_." How they first met had been... Chaotic, to say the least, "Starscream was a scientist before all of... This." He made a waving hand motion. 

"I see." Rewind noted. 

"The academy for science in Vos was a hard place for someone like me to exist in, most places were. Those large like me were not taken into consideration there when it came to the architecture, and those smaller than me feared me. But it was still surprising when Starscream came up to me and asked me to fight him. I thought it was because of my size, but apparently he did that with everyone at the academy." He laughed a little at the memory. A small red, white, and blue seeker walking up to him with an odd mix between a smirk and pout on his face. And then the question as said seeker poked Skyfire's chest. 

"I told him no, I wasn't going to fight him. He said he thought a scientist should know how to fight, and that I should prove it. I agreed it was important but I was... Worried. I felt it would be unfair and told him so, and he rubbed it off and challenged me more. Thing is, I had less impulse control and a worse processer back then." He put a hand to the back of his own head, "We both got in trouble. But we also were very even, in the end. I don't like fighting! But, it can be necessary." 

Rewind looked ecstatic. His hands were gripping the chair and he was kicking his legs, "Anything else?!" Oh jeez, the little 'Bot loved hearing about the past, why wouldn't he be excited? Skyfire decided to indulge him more.

"We ended up becoming friends quickly, I think. He was always pretty demanding, but I was happy to meet them. He did things that most scientist types would get a spark attack from. It was inspiring, really. He was always so free despite what the world told him to do. When authority told him not to do it, he did it anyways. And I think he helped me grow, in a way. 

And, despite it all, I don't regret our excursion to here. To Earth. Even though all the..." Being frozen, waking up during war, the person he loved having different goals now, being beyond science now, "Everything that had happened, the trip to there- here- was the most important moment of my life." 

"It was?" Rewind's voice was quiet. 

"Starscream was never all too openly affectionate, even when the romantic part of out relationship began. But on the way there," In space, where no one could truly see or hear them, in a part of the universe where no one considered seeing, "He told me something very special. And I'll never forget it." 

_("I love you so much, you giant nerd." Suddenly said Starscream after their laughter died down, and as they flew through space, the stars and planets unfamiliar to both of them, and probably all of Cybertron.)_

Rewind was quiet. Very, very quiet. He looked like he was deep in thought. Maybe he'd said too much? He had gotten really personal after all. 

"Uh oh... Looks like I totally wasn't recording the whole time and like I totally didn't delete the footage... Oopsie." Rewind said unconvincingly. Ah, he had gotten personal. Luckily, the little cassette seemed to understand that as well. But he did feel like a weight was off of his chest now after talking, in a way. 

"What a pity. I'm so sad." He said unconvincingly as well on purpose, and smiled with a sense of hope rising in his spark. 


	2. Regrets/Memories

"Starscream, can you pass me the beaker please?" Asked Skyfire in the gentle manner he almost always talked in. Starscream of course decided to slide it across the table, causing Skyfire to just barely catch it before it went off the edge. He could feel the grin on his own face as Skyfire's optics flickered on and off slowly twice, his mouth in an "O" shape. 

"You could've slid it smoother." Skyfire said simply, unlike the up-tight mechas who would've yelled at him. Starscream snorted.

"You're not reprimanding me?" He questioned with a laugh. Skyfire raised an optic ridge as his mouth became a flat line. 

"I think we both know you don't listen to lab safety." He stated with the slightest hint of laughter in his voice. Yes, that was true. But it was how he worked! The rules of lab safety held him back when he had a new idea or breakthrough, and being held back meant forgetting. So, the best logic was to simply ignore the rules. And he was good enough that things weren't constantly exploding, anyhow. 

"Good to see you're finally learning." He shot back, and seeing Skyfire smile, and directly at him, made his spark clench weirdly. Skyfire's optics were soft, the face plating of his smile pushing them into half circle shapes as he looked at Starscream. He froze in place and felt something slip from his hand, but didn't really care in the moment. 

"That would appear to be the case, wouldn't it?" He laughed as he casually caught the whatever-Starscream-had-been-holding-object, "Oh, can I ask you something? I've been meaning to but I keep... _Forgetting_." 

"Mhm." 

"If you'd like to, in a few stellar-cycles would you like to go to Maccadam's with me?" 

"Definitely." 

Skyfire's entire expression lit up like a pool of fresh energon, happiness seeping off of it with an ecstatic light in his optics, "Great! I'll send you a message later and we can find out an exact time for it!" 

It wasn't until later, much after work and the such, that he realized multiple things. 

One; Skyfire's face had turned a slightly bright shade of purple-ish colors as he spoke. Two; Starscream had been so distracted (and very much _not_ by Skyfire! Not at all! He swore it on his own creator's grave! Which didn't exist yet, but that wasn't the point) that he had been speaking on autopilot. And finally, three; Skyfire had asked him out on a date and he'd said yes to it. 

"Hey Starscream- what is wrong with you." Thundercracker more commented then asked as Starscream walked directly past him and let himself lay face down in his own berth, the lower half of his body still on the floor. His arms hung to his sides and almost touched the floor as he opted to not say anything instead of answering.

He felt Skywarp, because it really only could be him, poke his head, "Screeeeeaammmmeeeeerrrrr what's up with youuuuu." He swore Skywarp did that to annoy him into talking. Which, having the amount of fortitude he did, would never work. 

Suddenly, he felt a hand grab the back of his head and lift his face, shooting Skywarp an annoyed look considering the perpetrator was obvious. 

"Oh my Primus, you finally smooched that shuttle guy didn't you." Skywarp gasped. Starscream cleared his suddenly clogged vents and sputtered, before slapping Skywarp's hands away as his face-plates heated up. 

" _WHAT?!_ You stupid _little_ -!" 

"You look like a mid-build who just got asked out to dance." And damn it, Skywarp was smirking. 

"Wouldn't be far from it." He mumbled angrily before he could stop himself. Sadly, he was well aware that anger tended to take over everything else at times. This being one of those times. 

"What are you mumbling about now?" Thundercracker finally spoke. 

"I _SAID_ , wouldn't. Be. Far. From. It." He ground out, because he wasn't going to back out now. 

Big mistake, Thundercracker and Skywarp leaned towards him like curious newly created builds. Skywarp poked him again.

And again.

And _again_.

"Skyfire asked me out and I said yes automatically- now are you SATISFIED?!" 

Considering the looks on their faces, they very much were.


	3. Loneliness/Gentleness

Sometimes, mecha described Skyfire as a "gentle giant". Depending on who said it, the time, the place, the events happening, it was either a compliment or insult. When Starscream said it, it was never an insult. It told him what Starscream knew about him. 

Starscream, meanwhile, was described usually only with insults. And Starscream would change and forcibly morph them into compliments. It was a way of adapting to the situation around him. 

Which was why moments like these were important, especially for Starscream himself. Moments where even his fans were quiet in fear of breaking what he held, where his hold was careful and calculated, where his movements were slow. It was a reminder to Starscream himself that he could, in fact, be gentle. 

Skyfire smiled as he watched Starscream gently float the crystal between his fingers. Yes, the crystals here floated. Just barely, and were easily breakable too. Starscream looked on with a gentle look as it floated only inches from his finger tips, his mouth a small dot. Skyfire remembered the conversation just before this clearly.

_"Starscream, look at this!" Skyfire gasped in amazement at the crystal floating slightly above his fingers. It shined with a sparkling blue that striked at the dark around them. Starscream took exactly six half-jog steps over and then leaned on Skyfire. His optics widened ever so slightly._

_"Wow..."_

_"Isn't it amazing?! It's so beautiful..." Skyfire looked over at Starscream for reaffirmation, who was smiling widely by now, "Not as much as you, though."_

_"You ruined it." Starscream deadpanned with an almost square mouth. Skyfire burst out laughing but kept his hold on the crystal steady._

_"Do you want to hold it?" Asked Skyfire as his laughter calmed down, and Starscream almost looked frantic for a nanosecond._

_"No." He sounded... Bitter._

_"No?" The Shuttle decided to question._

_"I'll break it." Starscream's tone was acidic and he frowned as well as crossed his arms. Skyfire heard a small 'thunk' noise as Starscream stopped leaning, then leaned on him again. His face twisted into something far beyond friendly. It was easy to recognize when Starscream was thinking of unpleasent memories._

_"Not on purpose." He countered._

_"So I will either way." His sparkmate reasoned. Badly._

_"No! But it's- it's okay if you break it on accident. There's plenty more here. You shouldn't put the pressure of those mecha on yourself while you're here. Or anywhere." Skyfire stated firmly and watched for Starscream's reaction, to which looked blank._

_Then, very suddenly, "Hand it over." The seeker before him opened and closed his hand in a demanding grabbing gesture._

_Skyfire complied._

Which lead them to now, really. The light of the crystal showed off Starscrean's looks well. It outlined his features and made his optics look halfway to purple. A smile was beginning to show.

Good. Starscream needed the reminder. Everyone did, really. If someone wasn't reminded that they could be gentle, they could lose their way easily. Too easily. He remembered seeing mecha in the past succumb to such. 

He heard an odd noise.

"It won't break if your fans activate too hard, you know." Skyfire chuckled after recognizing the noise had, in fact, been Starscream's fans struggling to work while being purposely slowed down. 

"I-! I wasn't worried about that!" He snapped in that way that was badly concealed embarrassment. It was amazing, really, just how gentle yet sharp the right lighting made Starscream look. He was happy for once the planet they were on was so dark. They had to have brought their own lights to shine upon the entire world itself, and the only other light was the crystals themselves. Nothing sentient seemed to live here either, a shame. 

Though this time, he guessed he could be appreciative of it. Being alone together, flying, and being alone together, relaxing, was different after all. And if it let him see Starscream help remember just how gentle he could be? Well, that was just fine. 


	4. Intimacy/Vulnerability

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOPS sorry this one is late

It started off simply. Skyfire had been talking about the ceasefire, how happy he was that both of the faction symbols they had worn were gone, all with a tired and weary expression. Starscream had been worried immediately but didn't let it show, he didn't want assumptions being made or something. Not when their relationship had just been finally repairing itself. 

So Skyfire had simply talked, all the while his voice sounding different in an odd way the longer he spoke. Starscream himself sat in his lap next to a table, leaning on the large shuttle ever so slightly. 

And then suddenly Skyfire stopped. Not just his voice, but his movements. His face went blank along with his optics. His fans basically were at zero movement. Starscream immediately moved a hand to the side of his own head. 

"Ratchet! Get over here now!" Yelled Starscream into his comm. 

"What is it?!" Starscream was already getting out of the shuttle's lap. 

"Skyfire!" He spat out quickly, and he could've sworn he heard Ratchet swear in a mix of Earthling and Cybertronian before disconnecting. Now all there was to do was wait. 

Well, wait and try to help Skyfire with... This. Technically, it wasn't something that could kill Skyfire or anything, but it wasn't a good experience for either, and Ratchet was the only one who could seem to get the issue to calm down.

Skyfire was beginning to pull in on himself, his hands moving like they were getting locked up and he was trying to loosen them up. He let out a vent that sounded similar to that of a pained hiss. Starscream put both of his hands around an arm, remembering how apparently contact helped. 

" _It's cold_." Skyfire barely hissed out, and Starscream let out a huge vent in relief. That meant he knew that at least someone was there. It was going better than usual. 

At least, that's what he thought until Skyfire's fans kicked into overdrive to the point they sounded like they might break. His hand already flinched at the intense heat. Slag, slag, slag! This was not how it was supposed to go! Not this bad! 

"Skyfire I'm here!" Damn it, where was Ratchet?! 

"Starscream?" 

"I'm here, Skyfire. You're in the Ark, remember?" The words didn't feel right in his mouth. What felt worse was Skyfire looking genuinely confused at what he was saying as his vents shuddered. 

Luckily, Ratchet finally showed up, the old slagger, and immediately was transforming to root-mode and breaking out his tools. Both heard an odd cracking noise come from Skyfire and winced. Skyfire's expression went blank and something like a struggling noise came from him.

"Did it ever...?" Starscream let the question linger while Ratchet began attaching parts to Skyfire. 

"No, not like this. He's overheating _bad_." He opened Skyfire's back panel and began attaching wires from that odd box he used to the inside of the panel, "Fan broke from stress- which by the way, should never be possible considering how strong his are! How'd that even happen?" Ratchet shot Starscream a look.

Starscream threw his arms into the air, "Oh for- I don't know you old man! Suddenly his fans sped up!" Future him would probably get mad at himself for using Earth slang when panicked. Either way, the (ex)Autobot medic made a noise of hesitated understanding. 

"Keep touching and talking to him, I'll do this." He pointed at Skyfire's back and Starscream nodded, though wondered how in Primus' name he was supposed to touch boiling hot metal. 

"Skyfire?" He deciced to start off with, "You're not alone." An odd noise was his only confirmation he'd maybe been heard. Ratchet flipped the switch on the box he had brought with him. Skyfire immediately changed. Not exactly better, but there was something different about him immediately. Starscream shot Ratchet a questioning look. 

"Just keep going." Ratchet mumbled as a screen suddenly flashed to on on the box and Ratchet began using it. Starscream decided to risk melting his hand and, as gently as he could, grabbed around Skyfire's hand. He noticed it was... Well, it was still hot, but not _boiling_. Whatever Ratchet was doing, it was working. 

"You're not trapped anymore. You're at the Ark, we're at the Ark. You're not alone." The confusion was back, but he wouldn't falter this time, "I'm not going to leave you." Skyfire looked like he had control of his hands again at least, as he tightened his hand around Starscream's naturally. Starscream himself noticed how Skyfire's body tempature was changing to that closer to normal. 

"Really?" Skyfire whispered and ground out, and Starscream very much noticed Ratchet's relief. He was very sure his face showed the same. 

"Really." He looked down at the hand he was holding, "I mean it." And slowly, but surely, he was being pulled into a gentle hug by a gentle shuttle until his head barely touched Skyfire's chest. 

It was quiet, for a long time. For once, he didn't really mind, not if it was for the good of Skyfire. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I wasn't sure where to explain it so here I guess. Anyways ratchet's box thing kind of cools skyfire's overheating down while giving him the feeling of being (a healthy amount) of warm, where those kind of panic attacks make him have the other way around happen.


	5. AU of Your Choice (Shattered Glass [but its my own interpretation])

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi the Skyfire design in this is based off this thing I made: 
> 
> https://dapper-robot-art.tumblr.com/post/624734995282575361/heres-a-shattered-glass-skyfirejetfire-redesign

The shuttle looked out beyond the cliff edge. It was raining today, and hard. It caused a deep fog to run everywhere, and it storming so badly it was dangerous to fly. Meaning he couldn't get back to the Ark.

Skyfire. Hated. Earth. So. Fragging. Much. 

First it imprisons him here and he misses the last several million years, he misses when Cybertron was alive, he misses stopping Starscream from modifying himself so much, and now it wants to make him stranded for hours on end. Okay, he got the message by now, Earth wanted him to die already. Or something. 

Footsteps from behind him made him turn around to see-

Oh no. 

This is awkward. 

"Skyfire?" Starscream's voice called. 

"No." Skyfire answered, then slapped his own face for the stupid answer.

"Skyfire." Starscream confirmed blankly, "You're stranded too." 

"They left you." 

"What-?! No, I was flying and the storm started. Megatron's been worried sick apparently. Usually, it's the other way around." He laughed, but stopped when Skyfire managed to look unamused through a completely masked face. His own mouth then became a flat, sharp line, "So... How did you-" 

"You modified yourself." 

"I. I know." 

"A _lot_." 

"I know." 

"Starscream, you look like you're going to fall apart at the seams." 

"Mhm." He shrugged, in that same way that was too familiar, like this was just some friendly chat, and Skyfire had had enough. 

" _You_ -! Why are you talking to me like nothing happened back there!" He vaguely pointed to the direction of where he was pretty sure snow could be, "Like you hadn't grabbed my arm and twisted it to the sky to stop me from executing your friends! Like we- like I-" The memory was so clear. The memory of him looking at the humans talk about how they loved the snow. They loved the very thing that had trapped him. And that had made him learn his panic was violent and hard to control. 

"Spike doesn't hold it against you." Starscream attempted to comfort. 

"Why are you acting like this is normal? I'm an Autobot now, you're a Decepticon, it's as simple as that." 

"You were a Decepticon." 

" _Were_." 

"Well, you're clearly not attacking me for a reason." Starscream pointed out with his mouth in the shape of a small circle, "So this is a better time to clear up things, while no one else can even get out here." 

"No one?" 

"Too rainy to drive in as well." 

"You know what," He didn't want to fight Starscream, really, but he wasn't about to say it out loud, "I'll play along. But that brings us back to before; You. Modified. Yourself." 

"I did." 

"Care to explain." 

"Maybe," And that's when he realized Starscream was smirking, a rare expression that only woke when he really wanted something, and knew he would get it, "If you take that mask of yours off." Skyfire cursed, and tried to shoot a look at Starscream. He could see the Seeker's actual mass amount of stress in his twitching hands.

There was some silence, then an aggravated, "Fine." He put his hand up to his head and pressed a code in, then his visor and face mask retracted quickly and smoothly. His face-plates twisted into a tight cringe as he was forced to see the world without the blue tinge he was used to. Rain drops smacked into his face grossly, and Skyfire wondered how Starscream didn't seem bothered by it. 

And Starscream was smiling at him softly, too, "It's good seeing your face again after so long. It hasn't changed at all." The stress from before clearly left Starscream, though not all of it. Ever since he'd awoken from the ice, he had noticed Starscream's stress never stopped. The moments he remembered from long ago where Starscream could relax at all were gone in what was to him but a quick recharge. 

He decided to ignore the compliment in favor of looking at the sky, "Gross." Yes, that was the best way to explain the water falling from the sky, an obvious call from Earth giving him one huge middle finger. Gross. It felt mocking even. At least the acid rain on Cybertron had the decency to hurt him. This just annoyed him, and that was so much worse. 

"It's not so bad. The rain here is interesting, it's actually made of-" 

"You're avoiding the... Modifications... _Thing_." He hated that he had no idea how to word it. Starscream's heavy vent didn't exactly help either. 

"I modified myself. That's where it ends." 

"No it doesn't. Why in Unicron's name did you modify yourself? Like this? Where it's made you closer to my height? Where it looks like all of this is _crushing_ you?" 

"I needed to be stronger, Skyfire." 

"Where did you even go to get modified?!"

"I didn't go anywhere! I did this all myself! Every part of it, piece by piece!" Starscream tapped his own chest as he spoke, stress already returning at full throttle. And that was when it hit him. 

"The stress. That's your _modifications_ , isn't it?"

"Skyfire, I-" 

"You're forcing your body to handle several tons of metal that don't work with your body. That's exactly what you're doing isn't it, you're- you're basically crushing yourself _constantly_." He was aware of the kind of babble he was doing, the ones when they had been in the labs and he had realized something. It sucked. 

"I had to!" 

"Who's making you do something like this?!" 

"Optimus!" 

"... What?" 

"I... Ghg." Starscream put a hand to his face and grabbed onto it. Skyfire simply waited. The air was quiet and tense. The rain splashed onto both of their optics, Skyfire rubbing them to try and get the rain off. 

"Hn." He said simply. Acknowledgment at the least. There was silence for even longer. 

"The Crystal City. You remember it, don't you? I destroyed it." Starscream's mouth shifted to a forced, panicked smile, "Optimus goes, offers me a role in his army, and I say no. I tell him no. Like some idiot. And he grabs my head and makes me watch, Skyfire." He chokes out, "The entire city is just _gone_. If I was stronger, I could've stopped it! So that's what I did! It won't- It won't happen again." 

Skyfire was good at many things. Comforting mecha and dealing with either his own or other's emotions was not one of them. 

"No you couldn't. You couldn't have stopped it because you're one fragging person and he's a _creep_ with an _entire army_ who's hoping _Primus kisses them on the **lips**_ or something." He says and then crosses his arms. Starscream kind of just looks blankly at him.

"Wait- they want what? You- you don't even like them?" 

"I've literally been planning to kill Optimus." Starscream looked at him blankly.

"...The weirdness of that reset me emotionally. You somehow managed to help me calm down because you're telling me that you hate Optimus, you hate the Autobot army, but you're in the Autobot army." Well, hearing it out loud did make it sound weird. 

"Like the _Decepticons_ would take me?" 

"Yes!" 

"Not after the stunt I pulled at the ice." He noticed the rain slowing down. 

"Yes, they would! They understand!" 

"You're a bad liar." 

"I'm not lying. Megatron he's... He understands. Please." The rain and storm was calmer now, much calmer.

"No." He answered untruthfully. Starscream vented and looked up. 

"I should leave now, it's the best time I'll get to fly back. But, Skyfire? _Please_ think on it, okay?" He looked... Really upset. Skyfire tried to not let it show how upset he was that Starscream looked so sad, "And one more thing?" 

"Huh?" He asked, and Starscream managed to go on the tips of his feet, reach up, and rub Skyfire's face gently with his thumb. 

"I really did miss you." 

Skyfire would later pretend he didn't wave goodbye as Starscream flew away. 


	6. Betrayal/Redemption

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heloooo this one is pretty short bc the last one is gonna be longer so have this

"Skyfire." 

"Starscream." 

It was immediately awkward. Anything would be, considering the war, and all that. Especially when both were on opposite sides most of the war, and even then...

Ugh, Starscream was terrible at this. Apologizing. He was used to just being enough of a jerk to everyone until they left him alone. But now there was... This. Thing. And he had to apologize and it sucked because he didn't even remember the last time he had apologized to someone. He let his fans cycle. 

"I shouldn't have shot you." He got out, and already he hated the feeling it came with, that feeling of being weak. Skyfire raised his look from the floor and directly on him, his optics wide, then changing to confused.

Right, which time he did that. Uh.

As the humans put it: **_Fuck_**. 

"Any of the times that I did. But especially, uh. The ice." He was very sure this wasn't how you do it. He swore, he had done it in his head before this, but now it was coming out so stupidly. Even then, Skyfire's face decided to smile, though he stayed quiet. 

"What I put you through and being some jerk really wasn't- you didn't deserve that. You never did. I shouldn't have been with _them_ in the first place." He made a waving arm movement to who knows where. He remembered the vivid feeling of his Decepticon badge, the crushed remnants in his hand, some bits poking into it from him crushing it so harshly. He could still feel the pain in his left hand. 

"But I was. I'm sorry. I'm not asking you to forgive me, but you should at least know." Oh there was more to apologize for, much more he was sure, but he had no idea how he should. Or would. 

"I am too. I shouldn't have shot you." Skyfire finally spoke. Starscream immediately shot him a look. 

"That-! That was self defense! From _me_!" 

"Sometimes I shot first." 

"You had _reason_ to!"

"I'm still sorry. You don't have to forgive me either." Skyfire finished in that stubborn way of his. Starscream scowled, a good long one, then walked closer to Skyfire and leaned his head on Skyfire's chest glass with a loud "thump" while he looked at the floor. And Skyfire- oh Skyfire has the audacity to laugh. Laugh! And the worst part is he can't even stay mad at it, it was such a soft yet almost booming laugh, and he'd be lying if he said that the laughter wasn't wonderful to hear. It soon quieted down. 

"This will take awhile." Skyfire said, and he felt a large hand on his back. 

"Yes." Starscream agreed. 'This' being their... _Relationship_. He had kind of gone and ripped it apart, after all. But... Well, Skyfire seemed willing to help him when it came to sewing. No, that wasn't right. They were just going to sew it back together and help each other with it. 

However, he would be damned if he wasn't going to be trying to help Skyfire more than Skyfire was going to try to help him. Starscream had more to sew up than Skyfire ever could. 

"You. Are too nice." He decided to say. 

Skyfire mock gasped, "I can be mean."

" _Barely_." 

"I punched another Autobot once... It was not a smart move on my part. We laugh about it now, though." Skyfire chuckled slightly awkwardly. Starscream's head shot up, his optics sparking with a new energy inside them. 

"Oh really?" He grinned, "Tell me more."


	7. Free Prompt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay I swear I read everyone's comments BTW I simply just don't know how to reply but thank u smmm..I've never done one of these b4 and it was sm fun

Skyfire expected many things that day, as he, Starscream, Wheeljack, Perceptor, and Shockwave were all put together by Optimus Prime and Soundwave as a 'test' of some kind, for the day. All in one lab. 

_Optimus and Soundwave were seated from across the group. Optimus had his hands clasped and on the table, while Soundwave had his knees together and hooked his hands onto said knees. Meanwhile to Skyfire's sides, Starscream was leaning on him and looking at his own hands similar to how Carly checked her fingernails. Wheeljack was fidgiting with some kind of cube while Perceptor was sitting with his hands clasped together and had them sitting in his lap. Shockwave was shifting positions while looking possibly uncomfortable every few seconds._

_"We need to run a test." Optimus simply stated, "The five of you will all work together on one project. There are no specifics to the project, you can create whatever it is you want."_

_Soundwave simply nodded to confirm that he agreed. Though, Skyfire noted that he looked... Nervous. Stressed. He couldn't exactly blame him._

_"Soundwave and I have come to the conclusion this test will help with rebuilding Cybertron, both physically and socially, as well as helping in the City." Optimus continued. Right, they no longer called it Autobot City. The no factions rule was actually being followed through, at least with things like that._

_"Ratchet, First Aid, and Hook: Will be ready whenever." Soundwave teased in that monotone voice of his, though he added in a slight teasing tone._

Still, he was shocked... This had even happened. 

Starscream was missing his right arm (blown off), Wheeljack was missing his left arm (also blown off), and neither wanted to go to the medbay. Shockwave, still not used to even being around anyone after all this time, was simply pretending like this wasn't weird at all and was encouraging them by handing them materials they needed. 

"Oh relax, will you Percy? We aren't even losing energon anymore!" Wheeljack said way too cheerfully. Perceptor gaped and made an odd, horrified sound more befitting that of a dying copying machine than any Cybertronian. 

"You are armless! _Armless!_ " 

"Yes and I'm right here so there's nothing to worry about you stupid little science brat." Starscream spat out with a smirk. 

"Technically I'm right here." Wheeljack said with a smile in his optics.

"What?" 

"Nevermind." 

"Shockwave, can you give us more hydrogen? Also, make sure to toss it to scare Perceptor." Starscream almost laughed. Shockwave just looked at him, then managed to squint, and instead walked over and shoved it in Starscream's face, then walked away, "No fun. Hmph."

Neither of the two (currently armless) scientists seemed to notice just exactly why the other two scientists, himself and Perceptor, were actually horrified. Starscream and Wheeljack were working together. _To-geth-er_. Starscream had no cares for lab safety. Wheeljack constantly wore a battlemask and Ratchet had a special Wheeljack medkit by the door of the medbay for a reason, too.

It was made worse when Skyfire had said to Skywarp that he wasn't concerned about Starscream working in the labs, as when they had worked on Cybertron it was incredibly rare an explosion occurred as Starscream was careful in that aspect, but, well...

_The black and purple seeker before him elbowed him and laughed sharply and loudly. Skyfire just stared at him._

_"Why are you laughing?"_

_"'Cause Screamer isn't just a geek, he's an exploding one when he actually did lab work sometimes! Whatever you two used to work on must've been calmer than what he does now!"_

"Starscream, we really should go and get your arm reattached." Skyfire noted nervously. 

"In a bit." Starscream shrugged, then turned to Wheeljack, "I think you should pour in more." 

"Really?" 

"It'll balance it out." He reasoned. 

"No, it wouldn't. You need peroxide." Skyfire added. 

"Peroxide?" Perceptor questioned, though clearly mostly to himself, then louder, "Are you sure? Don't you mean pentaerythritol tetranitrate?" 

Shockwave sneaked up behind Starscream and nearly made the seeker drop what he was holding, "Benzene?" 

Wheeljack looked confused, shrugged then simply said, "Nah, I'm gonna just put salt in." 

No one in the lab was accounting for the fact that they had no idea what they were even making. 

"Salt?!" Starscream balked, "Why are you- _salt?!_ You're not serious." However, Wheeljack grabbed salt from out of no where and held it high for all to see. 

Then, he lowered it rather pathetically, "Um. Can one of you open the lid. its really tiny." Wheeljack said, ignoring Starscream's comments all together. 

"Absolutely definitely not myself! I am going to stay away from whatever this thing is that you're creating." Perceptor exclaimed and moved backwards away from the group. Shockwave didn't make any steps to move. Starscream was for sure not going to help with opening the salt. Skyfire let out a vent, then moved closer to the mess that was their lab experiment. 

"I think I may be able to do it." Skyfire offered with an open hand. Wheeljack simply handed the salt to him, and Skyfire decided to hold it over where he would pour it, in the case that it would pop and spill out upon opening. 

"Are you seriously going to put salt in it? That's a horrible idea!" Starscream desperately tried to argue.

"Starscream?" The shuttle asked softly.

"Yes, Skyfire?" And he said it in that annoyed tone that wasn't true, the one where some affection could be heard. Skyfire smiled, then leaned downward, and kissed Starscream quickly but gently. Starscream immediately had a flustered look on his face, his side face-plates glowing ever so slightly. 

It made him happy, really. Being able to finally be at peace, a war not constantly looming over them and sides no longer tearing people apart. It was nice having peaceful moments like these, without having to hide or speed them up. He was, truly and honestly, happy.

And it turns out, in his love and happiness, he accidentally crushed the salt bottle, because he just heard a cracking noise. Then, he made the mistake of, on reflex, opening his hand to see what he had broken, and heard the noise of glass, salt, and metal dropping into liquid. 

And then _bubbling_. 

"Oh no." Said Skyfire, Starscream, Wheeljack, Perceptor, and Shockwave all at the same time. Then a loud sound.

Red Alert's pen and datapad slipped from his hands as he shared a horrified look with Jazz while the lab filled with dark grey smoke, and what sounded like Starscream cursing rather colorfully. 


End file.
